Nightmare Chronicles
by SonicChaosEmerald
Summary: They say that dreams are an escape... To get away from it all... But if our world is being plagued by nightmares...Who...who will save us? When a young girl gets thrown into the midst of a dreamscape world in peril, after having a terrible past and recurring nightmares, an experienced traveler shows her the ropes. But... will it be enough to save the dream-like world of Nexus?
1. Chapter 1

_Someone...please, help me... can't control... won't stop..._

_He's coming... unstoppable... won't rest... HELP!_

A young girl sharply jolted awake, breathing heavily from her recurring nightmares. She first clutched her chest, then her face to make sure she was still alive. She rushed to the mirror in her room, making sure she was still herself. Then she collapsed to knees, sobs wracking her entire body. Her nightmarish dreams had gotten to her too much, and now she felt on the brink of ending herself just to get out of the pain.

"N-no..." She managed to choke out after a while of sobbing. "I... I have to be strong... I can't let it... can't let it get to me..." She started shivering, even though the room wasn't cold. "Need... to escape..."

Her arms were shaking uncontrollably as she climbed back into her bed. She had broken out in a cold sweat and she was breathing heavily as she pulled the covers over herself, before shuddering, drifting off into unconsciousness...

* * *

><p>The girl's head throbbed in pain as she sat up. She was no longer in her room, but in a circular area, surrounded by doors on all sides. She wasn't wearing her pink pajamas, but a fuchsia sweater with a red scarf around her neck, and a dark lavender skirt, with black knee socks and brown shoes. Tears started to form in her eyes as she pulled her legs to her chest. "Wh...where am I?"<p>

She slowly stood up while shaking in her shoes. "Wh...where the hell am I?!" She cried. She wouldn't get any answers, as soon the shadows from her feet soon left from her feet and flew behind her, materializing into a monster far larger and menacing.

The girl screamed and ran away from the creature as fast as she could, with the monster giving chase and closing in on her. Tears started to flood her eyes. "N-no!" She cried. "I don't want to die!" Soon she tripped on a thing sticking out of the floor and it wrapped itself around her ankles. She tried pulling on her ankles to try to free herself, but that just caused them to tighten around her ankles. Vivid images flashed in her mind with the tightening of the shadows, causing more tears to leak from her eyes. She gave one final scream before the monster lunged at her...

"Leave her the hell alone!" Another voice yelled. The monster had no time to react before a girl older than the one trapped by the shadows lunged at the creature, bashing it across the face with a rusted pipe. The creature stumbled backwards in pain as the girl then dashed and jumped at its face, smashing the pipe into the creature's skull, causing it's head to crush and blood to splatter everywhere. The girl breathed heavily over the corpse of the creature as the younger girl shivered in fear, even though the shadows restraining her were now gone.

"You ok, kid?" A voice said. The younger girl looked up to see the older girl extending a hand to her. Her short, white frazzled hair took up most of her head and had sharp crimson eyes, with a scar going across She wore a lavender sleeveless turtleneck and a short white skirt, with brown shoes. In her other hand was the rusty pipe that she bashed the creature's head in. She would have looked decent if she didn't have blood smeared all over her face and clothes...

The younger kid gasped and covered her hands in her face, shuddering terrified. The older girl sighed and helped the younger girl up. "Look kid," she said flatly. "It's dangerous as hell to traverse through here without a weapon. You have a death wish or something?"

"Wh-where am I?" The younger girl asked, on the verge of tears. Her body was shaking uncontrollably, covering her arms over her chest. "I-I want to escape... I need to get out of here..."

"Hate to be the Debbie downer here, kid, but," The girl sighed. "There's no escape. You're stuck in this world like the rest of us."

"I...I need to get out of here... I...I..." The younger girl stuttered, before collapsing to her knees and started sobbing. "I don't want it... I don't want him... Bad touch..." She said in between sobs.

The older girl kneeled down to her level. "Hey, relax..." She said, wrapping her arms around the girl, rubbing a small circle on her back. "You'll be fine. I'll help you get through this."

"R-r-really?" The younger girl stuttered. "You'll help me... even though we've only met?"

The older girl nodded. "You remind me of a girl like you that's been here before. I'll help you get through this, I promise."

The younger girl nodded slowly as her hand was taken by the older girl as they headed through one of the doors in the central area..

* * *

><p>"So... what exactly is this world?" The younger girl asked. "I...I've never been in this world before." The door the two girls had went through led to a dense and shrouded Forest.<p>

"Ok, you're new here, so let met give you the rundown." The girl said, getting a fire started. "This world you're in is the realm of Nexus, an entire world formed around the beliefs of dreams and nightmares alike."

The younger girl nodded, leaning back against the rock. "Ok... That makes sense since I appeared here when I fell asleep... but, why can't I leave? Isn't it as simple as just waking up?"

The older girl sighed as she knocked two stones together. "It used to be that easy, but now this world's situation has become more dire ever since the original girl's departure. It's now the case that those drawn into the dream world are now permanently 'erased' from reality, meaning that they are eternally trapped here."

"So... I don't exist?" The younger girl asked. The older girl nodded, igniting the spark needed to start the fire. "Yep, he wiped you from history in the real world. This is the only place you exist now."

"I...I feel...dead inside.." The young girl said, tears starting to form in her eyes. The older girl came over and sat down beside her. "Now I know that sounds bad, but really, most people take this as a second chance. To do things they missed in their reality lives."

The younger girl didn't respond at all. "Maybe you'd feel better if we told eachother our names. I'm Sabitsuki. What's your name?"

"I'm...I'm Yume..." The younger girl said. "But... who is this girl I remind you of that was here before...?"

"She's was a sweet girl, much like you." Sabitsuki said, leaning back on the rock. "Her name was Madotsuki.."

"W-was?" Yume choked out. "What...what happened to her?"

Sabitsuki sighed. "Something none of us wished... Her original goal here was gathering the 24 dream relics known as 'effects', known to change her appearence and abilities. But..."

"B-but what?" Yume stuttered. By this point she was sweating bullets.

"She... she killed herself." Sabitsuki said. "We all knew she had stress problems and tried to help her, but she just couldn't take it anymore and lept from the balcony of her room, killing herself on impact with the ground."

Yume fell silent. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she pulled her knees to her chest. Sabitsuki noticed and wrapped her arms around Yume, trying to comfort her.

"There, there," she said quietly. "Everything will be ok."

"I-I hope s-so..." Yume choked out between sobs. "I...I don't want to d-d-die..."

"You're not going to die." Sabitsuki said. "I'll make sure that you don't."

"P-promise?" Yume asked hesitantly.

Sabitsuki nodded. "I promise." She said.

The two fell silent for a while. "So... anything else you want to talk about?"

"Yeah..." Yume said. "Wh-where'd you get that scar?"

"What, this?" Sabitsuki asked, fingering the scar across her left eye. "Eh, this I just got from abuse. Father was an abusive prick and slashed me across the face. Bashed HIS face in then ran off, that's for sure."

"...that...that's gruesome..." Yume said.

"Yeah, but I couldn't care any less." She said. "I actually prefer living on my own. It's a bit relieving rather than putting up with him. So, you have any scars?"

Yume seemed to shiver uncontrollably. "Y-yes, b-b-b-but..."

"Come on..." She said. "It's not like I'll judge you about it or anything... trust me a bit ok?"

"O...ok..." Yume said hesitantly, before uplifting her sweater. Sabitsuki had a bad feeling that she knew where this was going, and with the removal of Yume's sweater, her fears were confirmed. Yume's bruised breasts were all the evidence Sabitsuki needed to piece together what had happened to Yume, and the answer cut her like a knife; she was raped.

"So... that's why you were scared of me when we first met..." Sabitsuki breathed. "I... I'm sorry. I... didn't know that..."

"It... it's ok." Yume said, tears streaming down her face as she put her sweater back on. "You're not the first to ask."

"Look, it's... everything is going to be ok." Sabitsuki said, wrapping her arms around Yume. "No one is going to hurt you..."

"Thanks, Sabbie..." Yume said.

"Sabbie?" Sabitsuki asked.

"Yeah," Yume said. "Sabbie. Figured that it would be a better name for now rather than saying your full name every time."

Sabitsuki seemed to smile a bit. "I like that. It has a nice ring to it.

Yume smiled warmly. "You feel like the sister I never had."

"Thanks, kid." She said, rubbing her hair a bit. "Let's get some sleep. We'll head out and find some of the others tomorrow."

Yume nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Yume," Sabitsuki said as she nudged Yume's still body. "Wake up, we gotta go."

Yume's still body moved a bit before she sat up, rubbing her tired eyes. "Wh..what's going on?" Yume asked, giving a tired yawn.

"Trouble, that's what," Sabitsuki said, grabbing her rusted pipe. "Looks like head honcho caught on fast to your threat level to him, and now he's sending forces to deal with us."

"Wh-what?" Yume stuttered.

"That large shadow monster that tried to kill you? That was sent by him." Sabitsuki said, grabbing Yume's arm. "He's been trying to take down all of the dream travelers since Madotsuki's first trek through here."

"Wh-who's he?" Yume asked worriedly, looking at the bushes from where the rustling sound came from.

"No time to explain, just hold on!" Sabitsuki said as she lifted Yume on to her back. Yume nodded as she gripped tightly to Sabitsuki. "I'll explain everything once we reach Monochrome Desert! Just hold on and don't look back!"

Yume nodded, burying her face into Sabitsuki's back. Sabitsuki took off from their original position, just as a bladed stick embedded into the ground where they were originally standing. A humanoid creature with the face of a bird soon emerged from the bushes and grabbed the weapon. After picking up the weapon, it let out a cry as more emerged from the bushes, and took off after the two girls.

Yume started to cry as her ears were assaulted by the cries of the creatures. "Wh-what are they?! What the hell are those things?!" She cried. "They're hurting my ears!"

"T-Toriningen!"Sabitsuki said, Yume noting the slight fear in her voice. "Followers that are primitive and insane in mind!"

"Ins-s-sane?!" Yume panicked, as the screeches assaulted her ears again."M-make it stop!"

"We're almost to the Underground Tunnel! Just hang in there!" Sabitsuki said, taking a sharp left at a forest intersection. "God, why is the Forest of Memories such a damn labyrinth?" She muttered to herself through gritted teeth.

A spear impacted the ground right next to her, and Sabitsuki's heart skipped for a second. The Toriningen were catching up to them, and it probably wouldn't be long until they were caught.

_"Where the hell is that damn tunnel entrance?!"_ Sabitsuki angrily thought as she felt hot tears well up in her eyes and staining the back of her shirt from Yume. She knew very well that they may die before they get the chance to stop him...

Soon Sabitsuki saw a light around the corner, and her eyes lit up. "Hold on Yume!" She said as she rounded the corner, the light coming off from an open stump. Without hesitation, she jumped into the stump with Yume on her back, before the stump retracted into the ground and the light vanished. The Toriningen rounded the corner and were confused as to where the two went.

* * *

><p>Sabitsuki set Yume down on the tunnel floor after they had escaped from the Toriningen, and Yume was breathing heavily and shivering uncontrollably, still shaken from that previous encounter.<p>

"Well, we should be safe for now," Sabitsuki said, checking the end of the sealed off tunnel that they just came from. "So, I may as well explain to you about who 'he' is."

"S-s-sabbie..." Yume stuttered, hot tears of fear forming in her eyes. "Wh-who is this 'h-he' and... a-and why does he want m-me dead?"

"'He' is nothing more than a monster, a creature that feeds off of nothing but loneliness and fear, and uses that to create his realm of nightmares. This demon can only be described in a single word for his name... Uboa, a demon spawn sent on destroying our world..."

"B-but... why specifically me?" Yume said, sobs starting to fill her throat. "D-d-does he want my b-body...?"

"Most likely he wants to exterminate you because of your dream energy signal," Sabitsuki said. "As yours is near identical to Madotsuki's, and she was the only one that was even able to come close to matching his power. But, as you already know..." Sabitsuki said, her voice becoming more somber. "Maddie had depression issues with a terrible family life. And she killed herself to end her suffering, may her soul rest in peace, because she couldn't take the harsh face of reality anymore."

Yume started to cry. Sabitsuki sat down at her level and took Yume into her arms, gently rubbing her back. "Look, I know this was all brought onto you so suddenly, but the point is," She whispered into Yume's ear. "Your power is the only thing that can stop Uboa. You, Yume, YOU, are what's going to save this world."

"M-m-me?" Yume stuttered. "B-b-but I'm just a little girl! I can't stop a being of nightmare!"

"That's right, you can't," Sabitsuki said. "On your own, that is. And you're certainly as hell ain't doing it without a weapon."

"But th-there's nothing here!" Yume stammered, looking down the tunnel. "How am I going to defend myself if I'm completely defenseless?!"

"Not completely," Sabitsuki said, slinging the pipe up onto her shoulder. "Take a look down that corridor, tell me what you see."

Yume squinted down the corridor. At the end of it near the exit was an odd egg-shaped capsule. Yume seemed confused by it. "What...what is that?"

"Go up and see for yourself," Sabitsuki said. "Doesn't belong to me anyways."

Yume looked hesitant before walking up and touching the odd capsule. It started to glow and resonate before bursting open, causing Yume to flinch and stumble backwards. The glow eventually died down and Yume removed her arm from her eyes to see a scabbard with a curved blade inside: a katana. Yume stood back up and picked up the blade from the ground.

"Well, congratulations kid," Sabitsuki said, putting a hand on Yume's shoulder. "You've now gotten your first weapon."

"Weapon?" Yume said, looking over the blade.

"Yep," Sabitsuki said. "Your first weapon. Now you can at least defend yourself."

Yume fell silent as she put the scabard for the katana across her back. So much had happened within not even a day in this world, and already she had to learn to fight to defend herself. _'But...but I'm a coward..' _Yume thought to herself. _'How can I be the one to save this world if I can't even save myself?'_

"Look, Yume," Sabitsuki said, dropping down to her level again. "I know things have gotten tense and a bit rough, but the point is, you have to be strong." Yume looked at Sabitsuki's crimson eyes again, as tears began to well up in her own. "I'll be there to help, but there will come a time where you're gonna have to do this all on your own. Be strong."

Yume wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve and nodded. Sabitsuki smiled a bit. "Good, now let's go meet with the others."

"Others?" Yume asked confusedly.

Sabitsuki nodded. "There's at least a couple of us at work right now trying to hold back Uboa. We're based in Monochrome Desert, that's why we were heading there."

"Oh," Yume said. "That makes sense."

"So, let's get moving," Sabitsuki said, walking through the tunnel. "The longer we stall here, the more likely his forces are to catch up to us." Yume nodded and hurriedly followed along.


End file.
